


Felix & Ace - Relationship Study

by heyimflamel



Series: SPK (roleplay) drabbles [6]
Category: Original Work, SPK - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Blood and Injury, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Developing Relationship, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Monsters, Platonic Relationships, Snarky Ace Solus, Snarky Felix Adístaktos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:55:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24166228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyimflamel/pseuds/heyimflamel
Relationships: Felix Adístaktos & Ace Solus
Series: SPK (roleplay) drabbles [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1534538





	Felix & Ace - Relationship Study

Ace is a fighter. He’s always been, and always will be, a fighter. Despite all the sass, sarcasm and spunk that he often was reprimanded for, he loved helping people. The paycheck was nothing to laugh at, either. So yes. He was a fighter. He liked helping out. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be a little shit, though, so he was going to continue  _ being  _ a little shit for the rest of his damn life.

Then Felix came into the picture. Which, first of all,  _ wow _ , that guy has to have some kind of stick up his ass to be acting all closed-off and robotic as if he’s above showing emotion or some shit. Second of all, this guy seriously is the worst. Who does he think he is, calling Ace a nestling dammit?!

Ace was not happy to have to put up with this guy for this mission. It sucked.

——-

He’s fucking had it up to the tips of his horns with this guy. He was a whole three inches taller than this guy and still growing. Ace was also pretty sure that this ‘Felix’ dude was never taking anything even remotely seriously, which pissed him the hell off because he was going to be a guard helping people someday. He can’t do that when shitheads like  _ Felix _ were not taking any of their missions seriously.

He’d rather go on his own. Apparently, his security clearance didn’t go above D rank missions. Damnit.

—— 

Ace meets a lot of insufferable people. He meets Adria, a racist who can’t seem to let anything go and has some type of weirdly inverted trauma going on. He meets Richard who— dear Serena, he  _ killed the elf king _ —and then Blossom, and Hazel, John, and Felix, who is still around for some damn reason he can’t figure out.

So yeah, he meets a lot of insufferable people. They are registered as a party now. Not Richard, of course, as that man has gone off to do his own thing but… He had no idea when that happened. The party thing. He wants to reverse it immediately and go back to solo work. Preferably, right now.

As a party, he notices things more. Like the fact that every once in awhile, Felix disappears for a couple of days or weeks or even a month and a half at one point. Then he comes back as if nothing ever happened. He notices, but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t. Even as he notices that, without Felix, their party’s overall security clearance drops from the coveted high S rank to a mid-low A rank. Even as he notices that Felix comes back from wherever he traipsed off to with some kind of item that immediately has him being led off to a doorway that no one ever dares to touch. Even as he notices that Felix is the only one to ever go behind those doors.

Felix never talks. Ace never asks. Maybe it’s correlated, but most days, Ace likes to think that Felix is just a secretive dick.

——

They’re in a tight spot. He sees Adria and Blossom, trying their damn best to heal up everyone whenever they can with potions and the little magic Blossom had left. Hazel was not on the mission. She left the party after their very first mission, too overwhelmed and sad and scared to continue. Aaron, John, Ace and Samuel were still going strong.

But they just could not compete. The beast in front of them was an A rank. Despite all the training, their party’s rank without Felix, and all the experience they got, they couldn’t defeat this thing. They managed to hold their own very well, but then Samuel’s magic wasn’t enough, and his mana was drained. And Aaron’s own fire was a sputtering of flames. Ace didn’t even— couldn’t— didn’t  _ know _ how to use his magic.

John had guns. Ace had his sword. Samuel recklessly used his ice magic like a fucking idiot and now had nothing to show for it. Aaron was doing his best, but he couldn’t do anything. And then Ace couldn’t breathe because  _ Goddammit _ he was the one with— getting? — _ professional training _ here, he should know what to do right now, and he should be able to pull this thing around but he can’t.

He can’t, and he’s useless, and he  _ hates _ it.

A sharp purple-black-blue blur dashes across his vision, like a scene straight out of a fucking comic book, and the beast actually seems to be severely hurt by it. Which. What the fuck. They’ve been chipping away at this thing with fucking  _ Atlantic ocean levels of cold _ and hellfire and all these lovely, sharp, pointy objects and a fucking  _ blur _ gets to this thing in one swipe? What kind of bullshit is this?

And then he sees movement out of the corner of his eye and jumps into the first formation (“Remember, Ace,” the drill Sergeant would correct him, “the first formation should be an instinctive reaction. Your left needs to move back. Drop your body lower, boy, or you will stumble after one measly punch.”). Surprise motherfucking surprise, Felix’s blank face is staring at him. He has a kunai in his right, and his left hand has a bandage wrapping around his palm with a suspiciously fresh-looking spot of blood on it.

“Seriously, I leave you guys for two days, and you get wrapped up with a thing like this.” Felix surveys the scene as he mutters. Ace frowns and moves out of position, switching over to another one he is intimately familiar with. If Ace was in a mind-state other than  _ ‘I can’t believe we’re losing to this thing what a shitty day’ _ , he may have noticed the concern in the older’s eyes. The way that they seemed sharper as he took in everyone’s injuries and appearances.

“You don’t mind if I take over, do you?”

The tell-tale quip of  _ ‘why’d you fucking ask if you were going to go in before I could answer, asshole?’ _ lingered on his tongue as the dark draconic ran at the monster. His steps seemed to elevate the ground they stepped on, forming pillars as he went up before he hit the thing again.

Maybe it was seeing— truly  _ seeing _ —not only the rank difference but also the difference in experience between him and Felix, but the older draconic looked absolutely terrifying as he cut down that thing in one well-placed hit. No mercy. No remorse. Ace looked at Felix, and he felt like he had somehow managed to reveal another layer to the man’s cryptic being. Despite being ranked at a low-A as a party, they couldn’t take on the A-class monster.

He would never admit it, he’d rather die, but Ace felt bone-deep respect for Felix after that mission. He had to choke down the fear threatening to crawl up his throat while talking to Felix for a whole month after.

——

“What’s your story, old man?”

Felix quirked his brow, fingers curled around the handle of his mug. The two of them sat at John’s Bar in a private booth at the back. Although John’s Bar was a very reliable neutral zone for criminals, heroes, and all the in-betweeners, some of its more high-profile patrons decided to talk to their friends more privately. The private booths were perfect, whether you were a famous knight speaking to a crime syndicate boss, or just two draconics trying to have a pleasant conversation.

“My story, nestling?” He took a sip of his beer, foam covering his top lip like a moustache before he licked it off. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”

Bastard. Fucking look at him. The amusement dancing around in his black eyes was annoying as fuck. Smug little shit. Thought he knew everything, huh.

“Why’d you decide to join a party with us?” Felix stilled. His expression and body language gave away nothing. “You know you could have stayed solo, or joined the Royal Guard, or hell… you could have waltzed into the palace and got the head magician position with no sweat. What’s your deal?”

The mug made a soft clink as it hit the wooden table. “I thought it’d be fun. You’re all endlessly amusing. Plus, seeing you flail like a hatchling has been the highlight of my day for the past couple months.”

Something tells Ace that that wasn’t the whole truth. He crossed his arms and stared at the guy. He couldn’t help but be peeved at the simile. Hatchling. He’s fucking sixty for Gods’ sakes. There’s another something in the older’s eyes that tells him he shouldn’t push it, but Ace has never been one to follow orders.

“You sure that’s all of it? Gotten attached to us like a little lone chirper or something?” Ace snapped. Felix looked even more amused. Did nothing work on this guy?!

“I think that after keeping watch of people as they sleep, fighting alongside them and going on missions with them regularly warrants some sort of bond, fledgeling. Whatever you decide to do with  _ this _ —” Felix’s fingers waggle between them. “—is completely up to you. Unless you do something stupid, then I’ll be forced to intervene as the only responsible adult.”

He says it like it’s the most significant inconvenience he’s ever faced. Something in his eyes reveals this is the least of his problems. Ace doesn’t know what to call it, but his gut feeling hasn’t failed him yet.

“Anyway, little fledgeling, about the new missions…”

—— 

Something shifts.

It’s imperceptible; practically invisible. But… Wow. It makes Ace’s head spin when he thinks about it. Somewhere between the bickering and meandering, the missions ranging from cat rescues to monsters needing to be taken down, Felix’s gaze shifts. It’s all amusement, still, but there’s more somehow.

He catches the older draconic looking at him sometimes; head cocked to the side like he’s trying to figure out something. Thoughtful. When Ace turns to look, the man is engaged in a one-sided argument with Adria which leads with the former flirting and the latter getting increasingly frustrated. Sometimes, though… Sometimes they make eye-contact. Something is swimming in his eyes, something deep and primal when he looks at Ace that makes his breath catch in his throat.

Ace finds that Felix looks at the others in their group the same way and finds himself able to breathe again. He tries to pick apart that look the best way he can, but he finds himself stuck at  _ protective _ and  _ possessive _ and  _ caring _ . Then again, the ‘caring’ could be ‘fond’ or ‘affectionate’ because he doesn’t really know if Felix, the fucking rat, is even capable of looking soft in any capacity.

Then, the young draconic start noticing things. Like the lingering touches. What the fuck. Felix would touch all of them a lot more, but mainly himself and Adria. Ace assumed it was because it was usually the three of them who were on missions together most often. What the older draconic didn’t say with words, he said through actions. Adria was on the end of more than a hundred pointed looks, glared, fond eye rolls, soft nudges and sweeping hand motions.

Ace, on the other hand, got a lot more tactile support from Felix than he ever thought he’d get from anyone. Ever. Pats on the back, his head, hair ruffles, cheek pats, slow shakes, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it smiles, ghost caresses on his arms and neck, knuckle grazes, firm arm grabs, weak toe kicks and more began to colour his and Felix’s interactions, verbal and non-verbal. Ace did not preen under the attention. He didn’t.

The older draconic was still a fucking sad ass dusty older man who couldn’t do shit. He was still a degenerate, still an asshole, still a fucking dunce in Ace’s book.

—— 

“Hey, nestling. Come here for another mission? Make sure it’s not too hard for those weak little scales to handle.”

“Surprised your back hasn’t blown out, old man. How’re the knees? Still popping like fireworks?”

_ Thwack _

“Respect your elders, half-wit. It’ll do you a lot of good to listen to people who can actually, y’know, fly out the nest without mommy’s help.”

“Why is it always the head… Mghh… Stupid dusty, crusty musty geezer…”

_ Thwack thwack thwack _

“Ow! I get it already! Are you trying to give me a fucking bump?!”

“Respect your elders.”

—— 

Ace grit his teeth. Getting his ass beat at four am in a cornfield was  _ not _ how he wanted to spend his Sunday morning. Here he was. Getting his ass beat. Four in the morning. Cornfield. There was a shallow scrape on his cheekbone and a couple of bruises blooming on his back, sides, elbows and his knees. He could feel the tenderness whenever he shifted any which way.

“Back to the starting position. Remember, keep your centre of gravity low.” Felix was a surprisingly competent teacher. He cut straight to the point and was short and not-so-sweet with his critiques. It was only the two of them now, and Ace thought he could see the sky lighten up the slightest bit.

“I’m trying, dammit,” the younger huffed. He crouched even lower, his knees still sore from the falls. Felix shook his head fondly and walked over. “What are you doing?”

The older draconic huffed. Ace couldn’t tell if he was fond, exasperated, or both. He was going to stick with both for now. The man grasped his bicep firmly and moved his entire arm with it, fixing his stance. A little foot nudge here—  _ “You’re sloppy. Toes should always point straight, never indicate where you’re headed.” _ —a friendly lovetap there—  _ “I know you’re embarrassed or whatever, but you need to keep these muscles relaxed so you don’t get cramps. Have you ever gotten a cramp mid-battle because you were tense as a brick wall? Not fun. Especially if your fights start lasting over three hours.” _ —and then Felix simply grabbed his hips and pushed down.

“I don’t know what you have against squatting properly so that your thighs are perpendicular to the ground and not slanted like a shallow hill.” The draconic let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a low garble mixed with a croon. “But you need to break out of that little awkward nestling mentality of “everyone is staring at me and if they don’t see me as an independent dragon-born I may die”, or you’ll have a seriously tough time actually fighting.”

Ace bristled. “The hell do you know—”

“More than you.” A thwack to the back of his head like a reprimand. “Now, all I want you to do now is put your arms in an upside-down V, fists next to each other. Don’t forget to tuck your thumbs. Lean back more, make sure it’s about a 60/40 split for weight on your back leg. That’s where all the force is going to go after you get hit... That’s right, good job, kiddo. That’s the defensive position.”

The younger felt his cheeks heat up a little and averted his eyes. The compliments and encouragements were a new thing, too. He didn’t know how to feel about them.  _ ‘Liar.’ _

“Switch between the default and the defensive, back and forth, for a while to get yourself used to be in that position. Yeah, that’s right… hold for like, two seconds ‘n’ switch. You got it, now, keep it up…”

—— 

“You fucking suck. Filthy scalene scum,” Adria hissed, eyes narrowed in the way they always did when she was angry.

“Entitled, selfish brat. Low-life useless sack of elf shi—” Ace spat back before a sudden, painful chill took hold of his ankles. He looked down and noticed ice— actual fucking  _ ice _ —holding his feet and ankles captive. The intense cold was painful and biting. He smirked when he saw Adria was in the same predicament.

“You’re both pathetic. I’d advise you to keep the hostility down lest someone sees and decides that neither of you is in a position to take missions. That especially pertains to you, Ace, considering that guards do have to be at least respected by the public.” Felix breezed past them with a glass mug in his hand. He raised it to his lips and sipped while giving them a long side-eye.

“Don’t tell me what to do,  _ scalene, _ ” Adria spat. Felix took a long sip of his coffee.

“Oh, look at you. Someone’s been a bad princess.” His expression and tone did not change at all during the exchange. He raised a finger and wagged it side-to-side. “Naughty naughty. Looks like a time-out for you.”

Adria flushed and sputtered, stumbling over a response to that. Felix’s gaze lingered on her for a couple of seconds before it turned over to Ace. The younger draconic saw the look as a little bit fond, a little bit frustrated and wholly amused. As usual.

“What do you have to say for yourself, nestling? Running your mouth does no good in the people saving business, you know.”

“Could say the same to you.”

Felix took another long sip. “I don’t work with people. When I do, well, let’s just say I’ve mastered the art of layered conversation and backhanded compliments.” He walks closer and nudges the toe of his slipper against the ice. “Hm… You’ll be fine for another five minutes in this. Any longer and your nerves will start to die, and that’s kind of terrible.”

“Two minutes in it for you, chirper, and four minutes for the princess for chatting back.” Adria squawked indignantly. “You’ll be fine. It’s just a bit of ice.”

“He talked back too!” She complained, pointing accusingly at the young guard-to-be.

“He has training to get to. While on missions, he’s my ward and they expect me to pick up their slack, or something. You, on the other hand, are coming along on this little escapade to pick up lily root and blue soldier frog’s legs. Among other things, I assume.”

Felix tapped Adria on the shoulder twice, ruffled Ace’s hair on his way past, and waved back at them lazily. “See you in a few.”

The door clicked closed behind him. The two occupants looked at each other.

“...Do you think he’ll make me a mug of coffee when we get out of this stupid magic ice?”

“I’ll convince him if you’ll sneak me some elderberry wine.”

“Deal.”

—— 

“Hey, nestling, we’re takin’ the field tonight. Make sure you got the flask and your sword.”

“We’re starting blade training?! Hell yes!”

“Watch it, kid. I might just beat your ass even  _ without _ a sword.”

“In your dreams, old man!”   
  
_ Thwack _

“What’d we say about elders, nestling?”

“Respect ‘em…”

“You better remember it, or I’ll hand your ass to you on a silver platter.”

“Can’t afford gold, huh?”

“You little—”

“Ow! No, my hair! Hey, watch the horns! Felix!”

—— 

Ace didn’t know what to think of any of this. He was confused.

Felix was always ragging on him and Adria, borderline scolding them for acting too reckless or getting too involved with the higher level beasts they sometimes encountered on the way to different towns. He never revealed what he thought, face impassive though his amusement always shone through his eyes. Ace had gotten better at interpreting the emotions flitting through the magician’s eyes. Sometimes. It was a work-in-progress.

For the life of him, the guard-to-be could not figure out what the hell Felix’s deal was. The touches lingered, mostly around their wrists, necks, ankles and sides. Scenting. It was fucking confusing. The guy always seemed to know what was going on with them, when and where and how and it was kind of terrifying. Not that Ace would ever admit it to him, obviously. The guy already looked like a smug little shit enough to last two lifetimes.

Ace was horrified to find out he’d been scenting and marking him  _ back _ ; a soft brush of his fingers to the inside of Felix’s wrist, holding onto his sides a little too long during a training exercise, and even just leaning into the older draconic’s touch. What the fuck. His own body and instincts were conspiring against him, sabotaging him.

Felix, the little shit, knew too. After one particular incident where Felix cupped the back of his neck, he’s been insufferable. Ace had gone near-boneless at the touch, realised, then shot up straight as a needle. The touches were more frequent now, but there was the new addition of Ace not talking and avoiding eye contact like some kind of fucking teenager with their first crush except it was his stupid useless old brother— 

Wait.

Fuck. That’s new, too.

—— 

The fucking mission commission fucked up big time. Fuck. Useless bastards. Who the fuck was employed there? Monkeys?! Fucking trolls?! How did they manage to mess this mission profile up so severely that— 

Ace swallowed. There was blood everywhere. He, Adria, Blossom and John was fine with little more than scratches and bruises. Samuel probably had some cracked ribs, but the fucker exhausted all his puny little magic in the first ten minutes of the battle  _ again, _ and Ace had  _ no sympathy _ for the bumbling idiot. Aaron had overused his fire  _ again _ and had a nice new burn to show for it. Dumbass.

The monster’s corpse— a basilisk, a fucking  **basilisk** —was a couple of metres away from them, away from Felix. The thing’s sickly green blood pooled around it and extended out of it. Some of the green was tainted with swirls of red. It made Ace want to hurl. He turned away.

Felix’s body was… Fuck. How do you even… This was supposed to be a fucking  _ D-rank _ , how did it turn into a high  _ S-rank _ so quickly? The guard-to-be pointedly did not look at the foot-long tooth puncturing the magician’s thigh and looked at his face instead. The man looked lucid, barely conscious with hazy eyes, but he still had the gall to fucking  _ smirk _ as if  _ his life did not hang in the balance—  _

“What… th’ ‘ell’s tha’ look for.” His speech was slurred, but somehow the signature cockiness still made its way through. It was so like him that Ace had to stop the laughter bubbling in his throat and blinked away the tears.

He dropped down onto his knees next to him. The loud noise made Felix groan. “Th’r’s a shrine… kinda near…” A wet hacking cough stopped him from talking. Ace swallowed thickly. “G’t y’urself… fix’d up… ya f’kin’ idiot…”

“Says you,” Ace snapped. He compulsively linked their middle fingers together, his other hand flying up to grab Felix’s shoulder. “Adria, Blossom, what’d you say? Can he be moved.”

Adria sucked in a breath. “We can’t remove the tooth, or he’ll bleed out. There’s a Goddess Alicia shrine nearby, so we should be able to get there quickly if we move paces to paces. Oi! You! Weirdly strong scalene! Get over—” 

Ace could feel himself sigh in relief. Felix’s eyelashes fluttered. “R’m’nd me to… chew out the f’kin’ board… for this…” He stopped talking after that. Ace finally caught up to himself, unfortunately, because now he had to be aware.

He was aware of the blood spreading slowly on the ground. He was aware of the shallow breaths coming from Felix, and the little sputters between them. He was aware of Adria yelling something at a chastised Samuel. He was aware of Aaron, quiet as he was, gently patting Blossom’s head, who was crying and scared across from him. He was aware of his middle finger, linked loosely with Felix’s, and the bruising grip he had on the magician’s shoulder.

His mind is screaming at him ‘ _ why did you link those fingers? You’re not his brother! You will never be his brother! Stop pretending! Stop trying so hard UNLINK THEM!’ _ The other half of his mind tells the first half to suck an STD-infested hooker’s ass because his pseudo-brother was fucking  **bleeding out** and dying and could have fucking died, and all he sees is  _ the blood the redredred— _

——

Ace had— has —a lot of siblings. A lot of older siblings. Siblings that were so much older than him he couldn’t connect with them at all because what the actual  _ fuck _ is a twenty-year-old supposed to talk about with a two hundred and twenty-year-old. He’s got so many who he never connected with, never attempted to make contact with after he was out of his family house, that he’d forgotten just how many he has now.

He’s forgotten all of their names. All of their faces. He’s forgotten everything about them and couldn’t recall a single thing about them other than the fact that they shared the same parents. Ace is the youngest in the family. The runt. He was the last—  **is** the last —that his parents have. He lost contact with them after he went into guard training.

Which is fine. Completely fine. He remembers, vaguely, the annoyance and how irritated he was at having so many insufferable brothers and sisters hovering around him like flies. They always asked stupid questions, always babied him. They always treated him as if he was a little baby, their baby, who they had to protect and coddle as if he wasn’t turning forty-fucking-two and it continued until he was fifty and ditched the place.

Ace has a complicated relationship with siblings in general. He fucking loathed having siblings of his own. He hated them all. He hated how much older they were, how much smarter. Hated that they were wise and acted so much more superior to him as if he was just a small child trying to understand the meaning of the word “capitalism” in an adult conversation. He wasn’t a fucking  _ baby _ .

So why in the  _ Goddamn fuck _ does his little dragon instinct tell him that  _ Felix _ , the bastardised ass, is as good as his older brother?

What the fuck.   
  
What the actual mother **fuck** , brain.

And he hates not knowing even more because then he will have to  _ ask _ . Like, ask for help. Ask questions. Ace can already imagine the derogatory, mocking tone that Felix would use when answering the question. It’s just like the one his eldest sister used to use all the time whenever he asked for help, all sympathetic and pitying and  _ “awh, does the baby need help? Of course, sweetheart, whatever you need. _ ” It’s fucking embarrassing. He hates it.

But he doesn’t. It’s Felix. The guy he saw completely level a horde of monsters and then cough out his lungs after chugging freshly-made coffee the next morning. The same guy that gave him encouragement and praises with no sort of string attached. The guy who he saw with his own eyes sewing protection runes into their clothes in the middle of the night. The guy that actually fucking  _ listened _ when he had something to say considered his opinion and  _ rolled with it _ .

There’s so much he wants to say. So much he wants to do. So much shit that he has to beat into this fucking dumbass man because Ace cannot communicate mushy feelings for the life of him, and it makes him want to run and hide. How is he even supposed to talk to him? What is he supposed to stay?

Ace still waits by Felix’s side as he heals. They took him especially to a Goddess Alicia shrine, so the degenerate better be grateful, or Ace will snap his knees backwards and collect his ligaments for spaghetti.

—— 

At this point, he was sure that he had defiled, trampled, shit on and ruined every rule that the shrine had. The guard-to-be almost burst into a sprint, but decided against it, because Felix was actually a follower of the Gods and would probably lecture him on proper shrine etiquette if it ever got back to him.

_ “He’s awake.” _

He paid no mind to the frazzled shrine maidens he passed. He almost knocked into one of them, who held a sweet strawberry incense stick. It was burning. Huh. It must already be noon if they’re cleansing the place.

_ “He’s awake.” _

Ace had forced himself to slow down and give a shallow bow to the little altar he passed. In a shrine as large as this one, many smaller altars were peppered throughout it with one large, main altar in the main room. Ace had to hold his tongue from spouting some shit about how materialistic and useless it was to go through all that trouble for a God who isn’t even there to receive the gifts. Felix would be proud. Felix…

_ “He’s awake.” _

The guard-to-be took in a shaky breath and continued down the hall. He burst into the main hall. A couple of the shrine maidens gave him knowing looks and soft smiles. Some of the younger ones were unfaltering in their prayers as they kneeled two meters away from the altar table. It was bracketed by two beautiful Goddess Alicia statues facing forward towards the doors of the shrine. 

The statues had beautiful floral arrangements at their feet and climbing up them, with a flower crown of daisies, dandelions and leaves atop their heads. The altar contained many offerings and gifts for the Goddess—  _ “Goddess Alicia was a kind, gentle soul. She requires little offerings to be happy, which makes people want to give her more. Quite the problem, isn’t it, nestling?” _ —and the smell of basil, bark and strawberry wafted through the air.

_ “He’s awake.” _

Ace gave a quick bow to the main altar, deeper than the rest, and made a beeline straight to the sheer white and pink curtain separating the main room from the infirmary.

_ “He’s—” _

“—awake…” Ace murmured. He held onto the doorframe tightly.

Felix was sitting up on one of the mattresses laid out in the room. A futon, he recalled Adria telling him. Felix was sitting up and leaning with his back against the wall. His midsection was bandaged up, and a few cotton pads were stuck on his arms with one on his cheek. From the waist down he was covered by a thick blanket.

The magician turned his head to look at him. “Ace. Blossom told me you might be visiting me soon.”

There was a beat of silence.

“How bad was it?” Felix asked. “I figured you would know best since all the shrine maidens here are stingy and didn’t want to tell me in case I went into shock or something.  _ Please. _ I’ve seen worse injuries from a baby dragon.”

Ace blinked. His eyes stung. “Scrapes and bruises for all of us. Aaron has a new burn scar. Samuel got a fractured tibia, and I think he might have dislocated his wrist after he did a stupid fucking ice move again.”

“Of course he did…” The older muttered under his breath.

“You…” The young draconic swallowed. “...You had internal bleeding. One of the hits you took burst a couple of blood vessels. You had two cracked ribs and one fractured one. The... the biggest thing was the t-tooth. Through your leg. You’ll have a scar and-and we think you might have had a mild concussion.”

“Nothing out of the ordinary, then.” Felix tilted his head. “Are you alright, Ace?”

_ The basilisk was fast, but Felix was faster. He was a blur whizzing past the serpent, so confident in every move he made. The earth came to his beck and call, the air tightened and flowed easily to trap the basilisk’s muscular form amid a small whirlwind. The thing’s tail lashed out and flattened Samuel against a boulder. A moment of hesitation. Large jaws chomped down—  _

“I— the basilisk… and then the— the bl-blood and you-you were…” Ace managed to get out. He felt the tears building.

_ —red satin spilt from his leg. Someone screamed… Was it him? Maybe? He can only remember how raw his throat felt, and could only see the red red red before Felix cursed and a tidal wave of flames came upon the basilisk’s teeth. The tooth dislodged, and Felix  _ **_kept fucking going_ ** _ like some kind of  _ monster _ on the battlefield, even with an injury like that and God, Ace wanted to fucking  _ hurl _ —  _

“...a-and the t— the tooth…” Ace pursed his lips and turned away, scrubbing at his eyes. Felix looked at him.

He smiled. It was a soft, fond little thing. A gentle curve that just— and it wasn’t  _ fair _ — 

“It’s okay. I’m okay. C’mon.”

And Felix just looked at him with that little understanding look, and the soft smile that hurt and made it all the better at the same time, and his arms just looked so inviting, and opening and  _ Felix _ was looking at him so fondly, so affectionate and caring like he was a treasure and just— It was all so much, and he was so tired and scared and— 

“It’s okay. I’m okay. Won’t let ‘em getch ya, I promise,” Felix whispered into his hair. Ace wailed into his chest, salty tears dripping onto the bandages around Felix’s middle.

—— 

When Ace woke up next, Felix was crooning into his hair and his eyes hurt. They stung very badly. It was annoying, so he scrubbed at them for a while before the magician grasped his wrist.

“Tsk tsk tsk. Shouldn’t be doing that, nestling. Might hurt yourself.”

“Like you can talk right now, old man.” The older swiped his thumb under Ace’s eye. Ace grumbled. Felix crooned.

“You alright now?”

Ace sighed and slumped against Felix’s chest. “No.”

The older draconic hummed. He rubbed circles on Ace’s arm which was slung along his waist. They stayed like that for a while. Felix started talking in a low, quiet tone. It was something about the mission they were on; the basilisk had allegedly escaped an aether level holding zone earlier that day and made its way through an industrial district and two small villages before it got to their party.

The low, comforting drone of Felix’s voice and the steady beat of his heart made it easy to slip back into sleep. He’d get to beat some self-preservation into him another time.

—— 

“Morning bitches. Your handler has arrived,” Felix said as he walked through the kitchen of his house. He was barefoot; an untied robe slipped over his bare torso and a coffee mug in his hand. His pants were low on his hips and pooled on the floor.

Adria raised a glass of orange juice in greeting from where she sat at the dining table. Next to her, Blossom was colouring in a drawing she did. Samuel was in nothing but a pair of shorts laying across one of the couches in the living room. He raised a hand before letting it flop back down in greeting. Aaron called out a small ‘morning’ from his armchair, focused on a puzzle he found in the newspaper.

Richard Jr. was the centrepiece of the dining table, a prickly deformed cactus that John and Samuel bought after one too many drinks at the local tavern. John was passed out naked on the coffee table snoring away, his cowboy hat covering his face and a pillow covering his crotch. A couple of empty beer bottles were on the floor with the neck of one in his limp hand.

Felix shimmied up next to Ace where the guard (finally! After so long! A guard certification!) was standing, leaning against the kitchen counter with a glass of water. Felix cupped his neck gently and yawned, a small smile on his face when Ace leaned into the touch. He let his hand slip away to open a cupboard and look through it.

“Any plans for today?” Felix asked, thanking Ace when the younger poured hot coffee into his mug.

Ace poured himself a cup as well. He was content to watch the magician have a back-and-forth with Adria and chat casually with the two draconics in the living room through the doorway. He smiled a little to himself and let his fingers curl around Felix’s wrist. The only acknowledgement he got was the uptick of his lip; a small smirk sent his way.

“We’ve got to go back and cover the basics again soon,” the older man reminded him.

“I know, I know. Geez, it’s almost like you miss getting your ass beat.”

“If I recall correctly, the one getting their ass beat was you.”

“Must be nice, y’know, being delusional.”

_ Thwack _

“Fucking Elijah— what is it with you and hitting my head?!” Ace rubbed the spot with a pout. “Sadist.”

“I know.” Wink. “A nestling like you will never understand. Such is the life of a little chirper like you.”

Ace rolled his eyes and put his mug up to his lips. It was snatched from him by Felix, who poured in a bit of honey and goat’s milk. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” Nuzzling his cheek into the side of Felix’s head was a natural response by now.

He still thought the guy was annoying and brash and one smug son of a bitch. He never knew when to shut the fuck up, and Ace would always try to find a way to one-up his sad ass whenever he could. Felix was also the most careless, rude fucker he’s ever met, but he’s also his brother, so it can’t be too bad after all.


End file.
